What the US Airways–American Airlines Domain Names Really Mean

Stories of a possible US Airways–American Airlines merger surfaced earlier this week, when domain names linking US Airways and American were registered. Does this mean the two airlines are merging? Brett Snyder says no, it does not.

Stories about a possible US Airways–American Airlines merger surfaced earlier this week, when it was reported that a slew of domain names linking US Airways and American had been registered. These included domains like usandaa.com, usairwaysamerican.com, and americanairlinesusairways.com, among others.

Do web domain names hold the key to the future of American Airlines as an independent entity? Despite what you may hear in a lot of places, no, they don't. But they do showcase the complexity involved with a potential merger, and yes, they even provide a glimpse into the way US Airways is thinking about how that merger could work.

Domain Name Wire immediately jumped to the incorrect conclusion that "an acquisition is very likely, if not a done deal." Slow down there, cowboy. That's far from the truth. If you're an American or US Airways traveler, you have nothing to worry about right now. Nothing is going to happen for quite some time.

American has long maintained it wants to remain independent while US Airways would love to take American over. But even if American had a change of heart, that doesn't mean it could happen quickly. When an airline is in bankruptcy, as American is, it can't just magically negotiate a merger agreement and then call it a day. It has to go through the courts, and that takes time. The suitor also has to position itself and make sure it can present the most attractive offer. US Airways hasn't been shy about saying it's interested in sniffing around American, so what's probably happening here is that it's just gearing up the machine to make a compelling case.

US Airways admitted that it had registered those domains, and that shouldn't surprise anyone. Registering a domain costs virtually nothing when you're a large company. It's a good idea to do it early before a squatter gets it. Consider it insurance if you end up needing the name and an insignificant waste of money if you don't.

So does this tell us anything about a potential merger? Well, one of the domain names is oneworldoneairline.com, which does lead you to believe that the intention would be the keep the combined airline in American's oneworld alliance. (US Airways is a member of Star Alliance today.) That's not a surprise.

And what to make of the latest report that domain names with United/American and Delta/American are being snapped up? I'd bet that simply the speculator crowd trying to capitalize on the possibility. But you never know. Maybe they'll just all merge into one single airline. (It's a joke, people.)